


Echo

by CurlyCue



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Other, Void shenanigans, and uhhh gaster is not a nice dude in this, but we'll see how it goes later :3c, magic shenanigans, so sorry if youre here for that good good gaster content but, the sans/reader is mostly just implied!!, you might wanna look elsewhere if so jsbfsfbk, you/your pronouns for reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-10-03 08:33:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17280665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurlyCue/pseuds/CurlyCue
Summary: You wake up in a void. Who are you? Why are you here? Whereishere?And what's happening?You'll have to fight your way out, but don't worry. You're not alone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [[Undertale] ECHO - Animation](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/446147) by v0idless. 



> This was originally loosely inspired by [this animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUPHqhotql0), and then it sat in my notes app for a few months, forgotten. I've picked it back up again, but I forgot where I was going with it, so I'm dividing it into chapters and winging it.

_Perseverance._

 

When you suddenly found yourself waking up into an undefinable void, you were first tempted to go back to sleep, thinking that, clearly, this was a weird dream, and that would be the best way to power through it. You found, however, that it was pretty maddening to close your eyes and not know whether you had actually done so or not. You couldn't really feel much at the moment, physically speaking, and there was only perpetual darkness to be seen here, so it wasn't like you could see the difference. 

Moving to stretch out your arms, you were startled when you hit a barrier before your elbows could even reach shoulder level. You frowned-- or, at least, you were inclined to-- your fingers splaying out and tentatively, gently testing the barrier. It felt solid enough, and somewhat dizzyingly fuzzy if you pressed it too much-- like spacial/void magic, you appeared to be stuck in a dimensional box similar to the ones used in the monsters' magic phone inventories. You were fearful and confused, of course-- as was the natural reaction to such a sudden, unexpected and unexplained occurrence-- but still, you forced a breath into your lungs past the lump in your throat and managed to settle back into your normal mentality. 

_Okay. This is happening now. What exactly is "this" thing that is happening, though? How did you get here? What can you do to fix this?_

You nearly unleash an entire barrage of questions on yourself after that, but then something gives you pause-- you freeze in place and mind, straining all your senses to try and figure out what caused the difference in the atmosphere. 

You couldn't see anything, not really, but-- wait... If you looked closely enough, you were pretty sure-- yes! The barrier surrounding you seemed to have thinned a bit; whatever was powering it must need to spread its magical resources elsewhere as well, or maybe it's preoccupied. Either way, you suppose, you ought to take advantage of this. Maybe with the barrier weakened, you can push through it?

 _Pushing through is your specialty, after all,_ you joke to yourself before leaning back and pressing your feet to the opposite wall of the one your back is pressing into. Forcefully, you kick your leg muscles into action, exerting as much pressure as you possibly can and then some. Just when you think you're going to have to give up, you feel... motivated. You catch your second wind, and the barrier's hold on you slips a bit, giving way for your feet to crash through to the other side. As the barrier is displaced, you think you see the outline of something, and that would be thrilling to you if you weren't so distracted by the _horrendously wrong, unnatural buzzing, clicking, and sliding going on around your soul._

You're greeted with an overwhelming, searing sense that you've been everywhere in time and space at once and yet nowhere at all, and that you're now stuck somewhere in between. You grit your teeth and screw your eyes shut to the point that a shot of more physical pain shoots its way through your head, and you force yourself to keep moving. Later, you'll probably want to say you did so because you thought movement would help you stay grounded in one place, but in reality you did so to get rid of the unbearably uncomfortable sensation sweeping your soul. 

Either way, it leads to you crashing through to the other side of wherever you'd been trapped, and you're falling, falling, _falling..._ you're terrified at first, but you can't scream. You can't scream in a place where there's no air.

No air? How are you here? _What--_

Suddenly, something catches you by the ankle, and you jerk to a sudden stop, wincing at the pain in your leg from being manhandled.

"heh. _soar_ ry about that. you surprised me, i wasn't expectin' anybody to _drop_ in."

That voice is familiar. How are they speaking? There's no air here, so the sound must be travelling by magic. 

Suddenly, you're tugged in a direction you can't quite place because of the lack of reference point-- and you come face to face with someone you feel you know quite well-- almost intimately. So why can't you place their face, their voice?

The skeleton is sweating, eye lights dim and almost flickering, and the grin plastered on their-- _his,_ you know he's a him, your brain seems perfectly happy supplying you with that memory, as well as his name-- "Sans?"

He had looked nervous, almost outright frightened before, but after you mouthed his name, he seemed momentarily shocked, frozen at the recognition even without sound confirming your message. He looked about ready to reply when suddenly a staticky feeling filled the air and everything was GREY and then everything was LIGHT-- not even white, just pure light-- and suddenly you were very, very aware of the uneasy feeling your soul was catching onto. 

Whatever just happened was connected to the box you'd been trapped in. 

Whatever just appeared had tried to trap you... clearly, it specifically wanted to ensure that you wouldn't interfere with whatever its plans were, and Sans was involved. Was it afraid you would get in the way? ... If it was afraid of your interference, there was probably something you could do about... whatever this is.

Glancing over at Sans as your thoughts turned to him, you have to do a double-take-- he's sweating even more now, eye blazing, and he's... trembling, just a bit, staring at something behind you. You're filled with anger at whatever dared make him react this way, with such fear, such panic. Suddenly, a wave of... affection(?) washes over you, and you feel the need to protect him, although you aren't sure why.

You are... **motivated.**

_You have to see this through._


	2. Chapter 2

You turn on your heel in an instant, that entire thought process having taken just a few seconds, and freeze as your eyes lock onto something, someone who is barely there. 

_Bravery.  
Kindness. _

You feel **c o l d** as the colorless, goopy mass with the cracked white skull suddenly gains a bright outline and a chilling leer, and Sans draws in a sharp breath from beside you. You startle, feeling his hand rest on your shoulder, and you suddenly see the outline beginning to form around him-- and in your alarmed state, you throw your arm out in front of him, stepping forward to _protect him_ from... whatever the hell this thing is. 

Clearly, it had bad connotations for him, and you weren't exactly getting good vibes from it either. Sans, on the other hand? You'd only been getting good, safe feelings from him. He had saved you from an endless fall, even joked with you in what you figured was an attempt to make you both more comfortable in a scary situation. 

So you step in front of him, and your soul begins to slide out as his outline fades.

As he has shown nothing else to you, you will show him kindness.

You're scared out of your mind, but you have to see this through.

Bracing yourself, you grit your teeth and curl your hands into fists at your sides as you quite literally _bare your soul_ for this guy you can't even remember, just because he made you feel safe and you wanted to do the same for him.

_Sometimes it takes courage to be kind._

A crackling, popping sound makes it to your ears, and you glance to your side skeptically-- Sans has disappeared. The sound continues, however, so his disappearance must not have been the cause-- but the only other thing--

Oh. 

It's speaking to you.

... You don't understand, but you kind of want to. 

You go to reply, but you still can't speak. Your opponent seems unfazed by this, malicious grin slowly spreading before there's movement and your soul is frantically dodging trippy-looking hand and... glitch(?) attacks.

One catches the corner of your soul, and you feel immense pain. There's a shrill ringing in your ears. 

Your scream actually made it into the air this time, much to your surprise, albeit with a few seconds' delay from when you'd first opened your mouth. Magic had spilt out of your soul and started floating over toward you, swirling in a lazy spiral-esque pattern around you. It carried your voice, allowed you to breathe again, and suddenly, you felt powerful. 

Like something had been unchained.

Goopy skull guy didn't seem too happy with this development. It started with a whisper, the murmur of magic around you, and you were agitated-- you were right to be, as not a moment later, it turned to a dull roar and the same magic from the dimensional box you'd been trapped in before wrapped itself around you and _squeezed._

You struggled, but to no avail. You were sure your vision was about to give out on you when something strange happened: everything flickered-- although that could've been your sight if you're honest-- and suddenly, the coils of buzzing, aggressive magic attempting to wring your neck stiffened and stopped in their movements, then twitched a few times, lessening in force ever so slightly as your opponent drew into themself a bit. You didn't pay them much mind for now, instead taking the opportunity for what it was and forcing the remaining magic off of your neck with a resounding snap. 

Oh. Oh, it did _not_ like that. It grew furious almost immediately, letting out a tremendous roar, albeit a somewhat clipped and glitchy one. Raising a single hand, a wave of darkness quickly rushed towards you-- towards your SOUL. 

You did the first thing you could think to do, and didn't think about it, instead following your gut, throwing your own arm up in kind. With a gasp, you watched as lovely violet and green swirled together from the "ground" in front of you to form a dome around your entire person. The darkness hit not even a full moment later, and your arm quickly became _heavy._

As soon as the wave washed over, you dropped your shield, entirely bypassing the realization that you're sweating with the wonder at your own power. What had just happened? It feels like the answer is on the tip of your tongue, but you're not sure, and it's infuriating. 

After a moment, you realize you're not being attacked, and you look up in a panic only to find your opponent looking at you with what you assume to be renewed interest. You immediately balk, realizing that you must not be the only one interested in your newly discovered powers. 

It... says something again, and this time you sort of understand. It's... an offer? Is it-- it's offering to spare you? You accept, warily, keeping a watchful eye out as the dark barrier dissipates and Sans comes back into view, looking sweatier than ever. He looks mighty relieved to see you though, if only for a moment before his haunches rise back into their tensest position upon seeing the monster opposite you. 

It chuckles, you think. Sans quickly grabs your hand, gentle but insistent as he pushes you behind him and does a half-turn to face you. 

"you ok? what did he do to you, let me see-- can i see? please tell me he didn’t hurt you, sweetheart, you gotta-- you can’t-- i _can’t,"_ he stumbles as he pushes his quiet, frantic words out at a mile a minute, his deep voice taking on a concerned tone as you keep an eye on your opponent, one hand having moved to rest reassuringly on one of Sans's upper arms. His jacket feels nice, although you suppose it must, being one of the only things in this place that has any sort of texture. 

He's stopped talking now, one hand faltering over your clavicle, eyes nearly boring holes into your own as he waits for your response. You raise a brow, then nod uncertainly. "What are you doing?"

"checkin your soul for damages. don’t exactly trust this old bucket a slime n bones to leave you in one piece," he hums lowly, sending a glance in the goop's direction. "course, he’s given me plenty a reason for that. isn’t that right, g?"

G? What a short name. You see and hear G's protests from over Sans’ shoulder, and you narrow your eyes. “Yeah… yeah, go ahead.” You tell Sans quietly, taking his other hand back up into your own. It feels nice, having some sort of sensation to ground you. 

As soon as you agree, your SOUL is pulled forward again. This time, it comes easily, much to both your and Sans’ relief. The relief is short-lived, however, because then his eyes catch onto something, and suddenly his grip on your hand is tight and the lights in his eyes have gone out, leaving his sockets eerily reminiscent of everything else around you. 

**“you son of a bitch…”** he growls, and for one heartstopping moment, you’re afraid he’s talking to you. His voice is _terrifying_ like that, what the fuck? As if sensing your fear-- hell, maybe he can, considering he’s two inches away from holding your soul, the culmination of your entire being and everything you are, in the palm of his hand-- Sans brings his eyelights back and squeezes your fingers in reassurance, gently guiding your soul back to its place in your chest. His fingers linger on your sternum a moment longer than totally necessary, and you’re about to ask what that’s about, but before you get the chance, he starts to turn towards G, and you get the feeling that you _really_ don’t want to be in the middle of this.


End file.
